Munster scrape derby win

A last minute missed conversion by Ulsters' Ian Humphreys handed Munster a dramatic 21-20 victory over Ulster and moved them above their rivals in the Pro12 table.

Humphreys gave Ulster an early 12-0 lead but Robin Copeland's score for Munster narrowed the gap before halftime.

Duncan Williams then went over at the start of the second period for what proved to be the crucial score and Humphreys failed to convert a 79th minute Nick Williams try as Munster held on for a 21-20 win.

With just three minutes on the clock, they earned a kickable penalty and Humphreys made no mistake with his first attempt in what would prove to be a fruitful first half for the fly-half.

Ian Keatley had a chance to almost immediately level the scores but inexplicably slid his kick wide of the uprights to leave the Ulstermen three points to the good.

And Humphreys soon doubled that lead from the tee before going three for three after 12 minutes with progressively trickier kicks.

While Keatley may have missed his first kick, the Ireland international looked a danger with ball in hand and after a scything break, only some poor handling from his team-mates cost Munster a shot at their first points.

And the boot of Humphreys made them pay once again with just over a quarter of the game gone to extend the lead to 12-0.

Keatley soon made amends for his earlier miss to cut the deficit to nine points before a beautiful inside pass from Duncan Williams released a marauding Ronan O'Mahony and a few phases later Copeland barreled his way over to narrow the gap further.

However, Keatley's conversion attempt was wayward and the fly-half then cost his side a gilt-edged opportunity to score just before halftime.

A break from the lively Gerhard van den Heever left Munster with a huge overlap but Keatley put his pass behind an onrushing team-mate, with the try-line, beckoning to leave Ulster a 12-8 half-time lead.

But just three minutes into the second period, Williams sent the Thomond Park crowd into raptures when he picked the ball up at the base of the scrum, produced a great hand-off to repel Paul Marshall's tackle and dived over in the corner.

Keatley added the extras from close to the touchline to give the Red Army their first lead of the evening before punishing two further Ulster infringements from the kicking tee.

And on 64 minutes Munster thought they had extended their lead when JJ Hanrahan appeared to dot down after a grubber kick through.

However, the TMO ruled that he failed to cleanly ground the ball before sliding out of play.

A Keatley penalty rebounded back off the post before Stephen Archer was sin-binned for the home side and Humphreys brought Ulster within a score from the tee.

But the most dramatic action was yet to come as the TMO denied Ulster a 78th minute try but they found a way over just a minute later.

Back row Nick Williams forced his way over from close-range off the back a ruck to make the score 21-20 before the previously perfect Humphreys slid what would have been the winning conversion narrowly wide.

*Elsewhere, Argentinean fullback Joaquin Tuculet helped Cardiff Blues overcome a resilient Treviso side with a try in his debut for the Welsh side.

Despite tries from Lloyd Williams and Tuculet, 13 points from flyhalf Joe Carlisle gave Treviso a one-point lead at half-time.

Richard Smith and Kristian Dacey went over early in the second period to ease Cardiff concerns before a Francesco Minto double brought the visitors right back into the game.

However, Rory Watts-Jones made it 36-25 to wrap up a second league win of the season for the Blues, late on.

All Friday's scores and scorers!

Munster 21-20 Ulster

The scorers:

For Munster:

Tries: D Williams, Copeland

Con: Keatley

Pens: Keatley 3

For Ulster:

Try: N Williams

Pens: Humpreys 5

The teams:

Munster: 15 JJ Hanrahan, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Paddy Butler, 6 Robin Copeland, 5 Billy Holland; 4 Donncha O'Callaghan (captain), 3 BJ Botha, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 John Ryan.

Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Tommy O'Donnell, 20 Sean Dougall, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Andrew Smith, 23 Felix Jones.

Ulster: 15 Stuart Olding, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Nick Williams; 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Roger Wilson, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Michael Allen, 23 Peter Nelson.

Referee: Ian Davies

Assistant referees: Gary Conway, Paul Haycock

Cardiff 36-25 Treviso

The scorers:

For Cardiff:

Tries: Dacy, Williams, Tuculet, Watts-Jones, Smith

Cons: Davies 3, Anscombe

Pen: Davies

For Treviso:

Tries: Minto 2, Carlisle

Cons: Carlisle 2

Pens: Carlisle 2

The teams:

Cardiff Blues: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Richard Smith, 13 Adam Thomas, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Geraint Walsh, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Josh Turnbull, 5 Josh Turnbull, 4 Filo Paulo, 3 Adam Jones (captain), 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Sam Hobbs.

Replacements: 16 Rhys Williams, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Miles Normandale, 20 Rory Watts-Jones, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Tom Isaacs.

Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Enrico Bacchin, 12 Sam Christie, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Alberto Lucchese, 8 Dean Budd, 7 Meyer Swanepoel, 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Corniel Van Zyl (captain), 4 Tomas Vallejos, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matteo Zanusso.

Replacements: 16 Amar Kudin, 17 Matteo Muccignat, 18 Romulo Acosta, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Antonio Pavanello, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Andrea Pratichetti, 23 James Ambrosini.

Referee: Andrew McMenemy

Assistant referees: Neil Hennessy, Rhys Thomas